Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 49,223 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• HSBC increased its Ameren stake by 11.4% in the second quarter, purchasing 49,223 shares and bringing its holdings to 481,004 shares valued at approximately $54.5 million.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.42; JPMorgan recently raised its target to $137.
• Ameren reported quarterly EPS of $1.13, surpassing estimates of $1.08, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, equivalent to a 2.8% annual yield.

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 481,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 49,223 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.17% of Ameren worth $54,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.2% in the first quarter. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV now owns 4,162 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 2,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,746 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 602 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AEE. BTIG Research set a $126.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $122.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ameren from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ameren from $126.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $121.42.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $106.34 on Tuesday. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $96.57 and a 12 month high of $118.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company's fifty day moving average price is $109.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.22.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 10.95%. Ameren's revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.82%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total value of $35,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,522,796.20. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.96, for a total transaction of $708,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 199,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,758,113.44. This trade represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation NYSE: AEE is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren's core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.